Our Stories - Lara Reichart

Student’s Bond Personal with Albany Med, Donors

Thanks to generous benefactors she calls “amazing,” Lara Reichert has been able to focus completely on medicine, not on funding her medical education.

“I spend my time thinking about how the kidney works or what labs we need to order, not about my tuition bill or how I’ll repay my loans when I graduate,” she said thanking donors attending the recent scholarship celebration that brings together donors and students.

Featured speaker Lara Reichert and Dean Verdile at the Scholarship Celebration dinner.

Ms. Reichert, of Troy, is one of almost 200 who annually receive scholarships totaling nearly $1 million to Albany Medical College. She holds a Slowe-Zuckerman Scholarship and a Rachel Catherine Ricciardelli Bruno Endowed Scholarship. She pointed out that these scholarships are critical to many of those students pursuing their dream to become physicians.

Her dream was strengthened by a very personal experience that increased her passion for medicine – an experience in the Emergency Department of Albany Med where her 14-month-old niece was taken suffering from a seizure. Later the toddler was diagnosed and successfully treated for a brain tumor.

“Watching the neurologists do their exams and then watching the level of patient care from all of the staff in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) made me realize what an amazing place Albany Med is,” she told the audience, as emotion built in her voice.

“There’s a reason they call the Children’s Hospital the ‘miracle hospital,’” she said.Now, heading into her final year of medical school, she’s well on her way to becoming one of those miracle workers, the best way to thank those who so generously supported her.